Twenty-two of the world’s leading telecom operators, in collaboration with Tier 1 vendors, are laying the foundations for the next wave of digital convergence at the Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance (FMCA) meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
With customers demanding ever increasing access to information and communications anywhere, the FMCA has set the pace in helping shape the global communications industry to deliver new ways for customers to prosper in their business and personal lives through fully interoperable information technology and services.
By driving a series of priority programs, the FMCA seeks to be the “voice of the customer” by providing customer insight and leadership to create ongoing collaborations between leading telecom operators, vendors and standards organizations.
For example, underpinning the FMCA’s product and service requirements is its Thought Leadership Program (TLP) on customer needs and market drivers.
This program combines customer insights, business knowledge and technical expertise of the FMCA membership to demonstrate how value can be created for both customers and the industry through the convergence of services and applications, value propositions and innovation, and rapidly evolving technologies.
The next round of FMCA TLP reports will be released to industry this month, reflecting deep analytical work and interviews with senior management across the industry.
Through its collaborative environment, the FMCA is accelerating the launch and adoption of innovative new services by being the catalyst for global telecom operators and vendors to jointly produce and trial commonly agreed product and service requirements.
The FMCA has been instrumental in ensuring the adoption of both Wi-Fi UMA and Wi-Fi SIP dual-mode Wi-Fi and cellular devices, with several of its members having put on trial, bundled or launched dual-mode services — driven by customer demand and the increased availability of such devices, from 15 in early 2007 to over 130 Wi-Fi enabled dual-mode devices and smartphones in the first quarter of 2008.
The FMCA is driving high-speed wireless broadband access to any device through large-scale trials which are set to deliver a richer roaming experience for customers — consumer or business — by enabling their choice of dual-mode handhelds and electronic gadgets to be automatically authenticated onto wireless broadband networks around the world.
The trials, which are driven by a combination of Wi-Fi UMA and Wi-Fi SIP services, are backed by telecom operators such as Rogers Wireless Inc., Swisscom, Telecom New Zealand, Brasil Telecom, Korea Telecom, Telkom South Africa, Innove Communications and BT Plc, and include co-operation with the Wireless Broadband Alliance, a world leader in wireless broadband roaming.
Underpinned by its mission to ensure customers around the world have access to the best user experience, on their choice of device, via the best network available for a given service, the FMCA’s first Interoperability Conference takes place in France on June 26, in close collaboration with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
Bringing together leading carriers, Tier 1 handset, access point and infrastructure vendors, the FMCA’s Interoperability Conference will focus on how to deliver a superior service for customers over wireless broadband using the FMCA’s latest product requirement definitions.
“The tremendous support for the FMCA priority programs and the Interoperability Conference in June 2008 demonstrates the importance that leading telecom operators, vendors and industry bodies are placing on meeting growing customer demand for fully interoperable and user-friendly convergent services,” says Steve Andrews, FMCA chairman.
With leading carriers around the world continuing to invest in their next-generation IP networks and platforms, the FMCA is also addressing the inter-working of new Internet based applications such as “user location and presence” to create a borderless world.
These will address immediate opportunities in areas such as Mobile IM, VoIP, VoIM, content sharing services and networked gaming.